Mr. Peabody Says:

Start with the last movement: Presto. It’s quite short and gives you a good taste of the style of this period. We are at #10, but it’s actually one of the earliest symphonies, written as early as 1757. It was almost certainly written for Count Morzin. The earlier symphonies need a light touch and a ton of energy.

Adrian Shepherd/Cantilena

1. Allegro 5:12
2. Andante, G major 4:38
3. Presto 3:18

The outer movements are fast and light, even though this is a modern orchestra, and the slow movement is actually played slower but without extra repeats.

Adam Fischer:

1. Allegro 5:29
2. Andante, G major 7:38
3. Presto 3:23

The 2nd movement is 3 minutes longer because Fischer repeated the beginning and ending section.

Instruments:

• 2 oboes
• bassoon
• 2 horns
• strings
• continuo

Background:

The lack of solid data for the early Haydn symphonies is vexing. Apparently experts are not sure exactly when Haydn began working for Count Morzin, or which Count Morzin that was. There were two counts, father and son; the father was Ferdinand Maximilian Morzin, and the son and heir was Karl Joseph Morzin. No one is sure who hired Haydn, which means my info for the earlier symphonies is incomplete

Date of employment:

Even the year Haydn was hired is disputed. Some say 1857, others 1859.

About this symphony

I searched for someone writing about it and found almost nothing. I thought I had gotten lucky, but another page that contained some interesting info was about the next symphony. So I can only add a few impressions.

The last movement is simply marked presto, but it is in 3/4 and has the sound of a scherzo and thus anticipates Beethoven. Because of the tempo marking it could be performed even faster. The 2nd movement is rather long and may suggest later, more expressive slow movements.